Fifteen-year-old Matt Moore seems to have it all: a loving mother, a caring stepfather, a host of friends, and a growing relationship with the most beautiful girl in school. All signs point to a bright future, until fate intervenes. After a sudden fire leaves Matt's senile and troubled grandmother homeless, she moves in with the family. Her ceaseless demands cause unrelieved tension - and with her comes a shameful secret about her daughters that traps Matt between a dead aunt who haunts him and his own mother, who seeks redemption for her sister's sins - and her own. Matt transforms from a gregarious teenager to a hostile loner prone to fits of rage - tortured by chilling memories and haunted by nightmares. Then a shocking tragedy shatters the family beyond repair, propelling Matt's mother and grandmother into a final, explosive confrontation...a showdown in which old wounds will be viciously torn open - and a horrific shadow from the past will spring an implacable life of its own, clawing toward Matt with the ferocious inevitability of death itself. Download and start listening now!

Listener Opinions

by Erin | 2/19/2014

" I did not enjoy this book. so much secrecy about what was really going on, and it had a creepy feel to it. not creepy as in scary or "ooh, this is creeping me out in a good way" but more of a dirty creepy "I don't really even want to touch this book" sort of way. the ending was disappointing, and I felt cheated after suffering through the whole book. "

by Tom Hill | 2/12/2014

" Not as predictable as past books I have read from John Saul. It was an interesting read. "

by Penny | 2/8/2014

" Not sure if I can even say I read it since I only made it half way through. It was tough making it half way. It was very slow and the author must think readers are stupid. I do not like it when a writer repeats things over and over. As readers we do remember what we read as we read it. "

by Jennifer | 2/7/2014

" While I enjoyed the first half of the book or so, as I continued reading, certain issues got under my skin, issues that magnified my dislike of the conclusion. The writing style is very heavy-handed, and after a while that began to irk me. The highly-detailed, long-winded descriptions I could live with, but the long, rambling, emotional inner monologues got to be tiresome, especially when they were from minor characters. There was gratuitous violence, gore, and sexual episodes for shock value, and I couldn't help thinking that the story would have been more chilling and effective if some of the story was pared down. Certainly the mental breakdown of Joan could have been handled with a lighter touch, because it became just too much like something for a television show - too quick and too much, because you only have so much time and you have to be sure your entire audience 'gets it.' The only characters were one-dimensional ones, and again, while I can put up with that for a while (especially for a short work), eventually it's tiresome in a longer novel. Lastly, a few logistical issues to the mystery really bothered me, one especially. This will be an odd sentence, because I'm trying no to give anything away: When you have a
few chapters inside of the head of one of the sane characters who can give a real solid clue to the mystery, and the reader sees all his or her thoughts, and he or she is even thinking about the subject of that clue, it does not make any sense at all that they don't think of the clue. It just doesn't. When I reached one part of the reveal, and it's clear that character had known about this particular puzzle piece, I felt that either there would be another twist, negating the new evidence, or that the author had messed up and forgotten to put the clue earlier. But having finished the book, now I can tell that it's a third, worse alternative. John Saul was trying to milk more suspense out of the story, and to do that he cheated the reader. Even more irksome is that this particular clue would not have ruined the main mystery. Saul clearly wanted every reveal to be at the end, all the real clues to come in a jumble together, to surprise the reader as much as possible. But to do that he sacrificed some believability, something that, in my mind, he really couldn't afford to do. "

" This is a pretty creepy, incestuous and evil story. It wasn't that it was scary, but it was just very twisted. "

Lisa (Harmonybites) | 1/22/2014

" The story centers on a family (literally) haunted by a dead family member. This was my first novel by Saul, and given that what stopped me reading was the clunky style, above all, I imagine it will be my last. I hated Saul's way with point of view. A true, good omniscient point of view needs a strong voice and masterful style, or it comes across as just sloppy head-hopping, which is what we have here, as well as frequent rhetorical questions and other cheesy flourishes and melodramatic prose. There are far too many really well-written and gripping horror novels out there to waste your time on this one. "

Kelly Pow | 1/19/2014

" a good thriller that is gripping and haunting "

Drew Pyke | 1/14/2014

" I don't really remember much of this book. Something about a boy being told what to do against his will through voices or ghosts and a twist at the end which I also forget. "

Jezebel Jorge | 12/26/2013

" Creepy to the extreme. I listened to this one as an book on tape and Lee Merryweather really adds to the story as the narrator. "

Ashlee Croyle | 12/13/2013

" Decent twist near the end. "

Darlene Grant | 12/3/2013

" I liked this John Saul book, not real typical, but a good haunting story. "

Patti | 11/17/2013

" First book I have read by this author in a while. It was good and had a few twists. "

Michele | 7/11/2013

" Just ok. I guess I was expecting more of a twist. "

Gina Harris | 5/17/2013

" This book was very mysterious and suspenseful and I loved that part! It was also a little confusing, but for the most part it was definitely a page Turner! "

Maria | 10/12/2012

" The ending was amazingly twisty! It kept me flipping pages way too late at night. "

Lauren | 8/5/2012

" I love John Saul books! This one kept me up all night! "

Brittany | 7/12/2012

" This was the book that got me started reading John Saul. I loved it. At times my heart was pounding as I read this story. "

Crystal | 5/14/2012

" I have to be honest I really couldn't get into this book. I had to force myself to keep reading all the way through. "

Ronnie Dinin | 3/17/2012

" absolutely a must! Couldn't put it down! "

Roxie | 3/3/2012

" I AM A FAN OF JOHN SAUL, WAY BEFORE I READ ANY STEPHEN KING AND JOHN SAULS BOOKS ARE INTRIGING AND HARD TO PUT DOWN WHEN YOU START ONE YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO FINISH IT FOR YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PUT HIS BOOKS DOWN...I PROMISE YOU WILL ENJOY HIS BOOKS "

Liz Solis | 2/5/2012

" Enjoyed book had some scary moments. Ending was unexpected. "

Damian Serbu | 9/7/2011

" I love a good John Saul novel. As usual, this is a gripping and tense novel, with a good twist or two to keep you on your toes! "

Ashlee | 5/9/2011

" Decent twist near the end.
"

Patti | 3/27/2011

" First book I have read by this author in a while. It was good and had a few twists.
"

Ronnie | 9/24/2010

" absolutely a must! Couldn't put it down!
"

Damian | 8/13/2010

" I love a good John Saul novel. As usual, this is a gripping and tense novel, with a good twist or two to keep you on your toes!
"

Penny | 8/8/2010

" Not sure if I can even say I read it since I only made it half way through. It was tough making it half way. It was very slow and the author must think readers are stupid. I do not like it when a writer repeats things over and over. As readers we do remember what we read as we read it.
"

Felicia | 4/30/2010

" Brain bleach...I need brain bleach.
"

Lauren | 7/23/2009

" I love John Saul books! This one kept me up all night!
"

Michele | 7/10/2009

" Just ok. I guess I was expecting more of a twist.
"

Maria | 7/29/2008

" The ending was amazingly twisty! It kept me flipping pages way too late at night.
"

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